La Realidad A late night, the moon high in the sky, Maricela sits in the comfort of her couch where she finally encounters peace. She gently opens her English book and disconnects from the world. After a long enduring day, she gets a limited period of time which she appreciates. Maricela is a person who can’t bring herself to say “no” to anyone who is asking for her help. Constantly taking many duties at once, trying to fulfill them without thinking about herself. It’s a race, each and every day for a mother with an American dream. Living in the United States is one of the toughest experiences immigrants face. Throughout the U.S, the desire for success from immigrants is commonly overlooked, many of their goals and achievements are never taken seriously nor valued to succeed. On top of that, immigrant single mothers experience a load of responsibilities, where they need to fulfill the role of a mother without the support of a partner while adapting to a strange new country. However, Maricela Choque is a hardworking and
loving woman who represents the struggles of living in the United States as an immigrant and single parent. She has dealt with harsh actions and has been looked down on by many people due to her struggle on learning a new language, English. In previous years, as a new immigrant to the United States, she has faced discrimination due to the language barrier when asking for help. Constantly being shut down by others when asking simple questions or directions in Spanish, the only language she knew, has let her realize the reality of living in the U.S as an immigrant. In a recent interview, she reacted, “ Oh, yes, sometimes I had to call for my girls’ insurance. Sometimes they helped me, and sometimes they just told me “no, we don’t speak English ‘’ and hung up on me. And I felt kind of frustrated, helpless. Not being able to, well, not being able to speak English.” Maricela experiences what many immigrants would go through daily, from being ignored to offensive insults.